Papers by Irina Kuzminsky
Esoteric Quarterly, 2020
This study offers a meditation on the role of Beauty on the Way as a path of Return to God in the... more This study offers a meditation on the role of Beauty on the Way as a path of Return to God in the work and thought of the Sufi scholar, poet and mystic, Ibn ‘Arabī, with specific reference to the Tarjumān al-ashwāq or The Interpreter of Desires, his collection of love poetry dedicated to the Lady Niẓām. Ibn ‘Arabī’s intensely transformative relationship with Niẓām is explored in the context of relations between Sufi men and women, and likewise of Ibn ‘Arabī’s own multifaceted relationships with women, encompassing his radical understanding of the genders and the role of women in general, in whom, according to Ibn ‘Arabī, the Divine is to be most perfectly witnessed. Commencing with an exploration of the significance of Beauty, this study explores the relationship with Niẓām in its wider social and religious context, and in the poems of the Tarjumān, to conclude with Ibn ‘Arabī’s belief in the significance of sacred poetry for the mystic as a way of “saying the unsayable.”
Esoteric Quarterly, 2016
This article explores the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas and the concept of the Word ... more This article explores the teachings of Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas and the concept of the Word both in the Christian tradition and in Eastern sources. The springboard into this meditation is the influential opening of John's Gospel, which identifies Jesus with the Christ and as such, with the Logos or Word. Through this identification with the Word as the creative agency of the Divine, understood archetypally as the Goddess or the feminine aspect of the Godhead, Christ as incarnated through Jesus is seen to bridge the masculine and feminine aspects of God. The Gospel of Thomas is then examined and seen to provide a different perspective on Jesus and his relationship to the Word. If John's gospel focuses on the exclusivity of Jesus as the sole incarnation 1 of the Word through history, Thomas speaks of the potential exclusivity of us all as fragments of the divine essence, a view closer to the esoteric understanding. The message of Jesus in Thomas is as fresh, as radical and as relevant as it ever was. It is a message common to Eastern and Western Wisdom teachings and constitutes another example of how Wisdom may manifest in a myriad different guises in the overlapping traditions of West and East, and yet remain One. The poems are intended to add a meditative dimension to the ideas being explored .
Esoteric Quarterly, 2019
Kālī - the most powerful and most misunderstood of Indian goddesses, she is an Image of Divinity ... more Kālī - the most powerful and most misunderstood of Indian goddesses, she is an Image of Divinity whose roots extend well into the ancient Goddess worship of prehistory to reemerge in the Purāṇas and the Tantras. Under her name of Kālī, the Black Goddess rapidly ascended to the status of Alpha and Omega, the Ultimate Source itself in the Śākta stream of Indian religion. This article traces some of the history of her evolution, examines the legacy of the Tantras and of Śaktism, and touches on her current renaissance among certain segments worldwide. It suggests that Kālī could be morphing into an image of the Divine more in tune with our current search for the feminine face of God in our religious traditions, as well as embodying a cosmic image of divinity more in accord with the demands of ecospirituality, with its acknowledgement of a spiritual connection between human beings and the environment , and the most recent discoveries of the new physics. In the final reckoning, Kālī is seen to be an image of the Divine which cannot be disregarded or dismissed lightly.
Esoteric Quarterly, 2018
Apostle to the apostles or whore? The “Woman who knew the All” or one who “perfumed her flesh... more Apostle to the apostles or whore? The “Woman who knew the All” or one who “perfumed her flesh in forbidden acts”? In a world looking for female voices from the past, where are the female voices in the Christian story? And why has the voice of Mary Magdalene been silenced? Slandered yet never quite suppressed, what does Mary Magdalene’s resurgence into consciousness signal for us today? As a female disciple and a leader central to the Jesus movement,her rehabilitation at the very least opens up new pathways for women beyond unattainable ideal (the Virgin Mary) and carrier of sexual guilt (all other women). One of the questions to be addressed in the course of this article is what does “the Magdalene” mean? Did she really come from a town called Magdala as the longstanding official version has it? Or, the tantalizing alternative, was it a title given to her by Jesus to cement her status in the early Christian movement? Much of the traditional interpretation of Mary Magdalene stems from readings of the four gospels and the 33rd Homily of Gregory the Great. Whilst important to many, these are not the only texts that discuss her role. Many others have become more widely available in recent years. By looking at these, we gain a fuller picture of the importance of Mary Magdalene and of her role in the Christian tradition. This article sets out to explore this role and her changing face through historical texts and poetry, and open a space for reflection and encounter with the one whom Jesus named the “Watchtower of the Flock.”
Drafts by Irina Kuzminsky
A collection of poems in praise of Adya Kali
Although some of the poems from this manuscript have... more A collection of poems in praise of Adya Kali
Although some of the poems from this manuscript have been published, also as part of my article "Kālī the Dark Mother", the manuscript as a whole is as yet unpublished.
I have made these poems available here for anyone who feels a call to the Feminine Face of God.
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Papers by Irina Kuzminsky
Drafts by Irina Kuzminsky
Although some of the poems from this manuscript have been published, also as part of my article "Kālī the Dark Mother", the manuscript as a whole is as yet unpublished.
I have made these poems available here for anyone who feels a call to the Feminine Face of God.
Although some of the poems from this manuscript have been published, also as part of my article "Kālī the Dark Mother", the manuscript as a whole is as yet unpublished.
I have made these poems available here for anyone who feels a call to the Feminine Face of God.